Read full article by Foster’s Daily Democrat
“CONCORD (AP) — A judge has ruled New Hampshire must stop enforcing tough, new drinking water standards for a toxic chemical by the end of the year.
New Hampshire Public Radio reports Superior Court Judge Robert McNamara Tuesday granted a temporary injunction requested by 3M and several others who opposed the standards that went into effect in October for perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, collectively called PFAS.
The parties, which also included the town of Plymouth, a farmer and a sludge company, sued the state’s Department of Environmental Resources Commissioner Robert Scott in September, alleging the agency didn’t follow the appropriate process in approving the standard. The state denied wrongdoing.
The New Hampshire standard limits one chemical to a maximum of 12 parts per trillion and another to 15 ppt, far lower than the 70 ppt the Environmental Protection Agency has advised for the chemicals. Several other states have standards at levels lower than the EPA’s.
Attorneys Terri Pastori and Mark Rouvalis, representing 3M, in October contended the state didn’t do a proper cost-benefit analysis before proposing the new regulations this year. They also accused the state of not allowing adequate public comment before approving the standards…”